It is often said that the real estate sector, categorized as lo-tech, is slow to adopt construction methods based on new technologies. Real estate marketing, by contrast, is innovative and eager to incorporate technological tools as marketing aids. This was true before the pandemic and is doubly true now, with social distancing restrictions in place.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
As always, the trend began abroad. Imagine yourself entering a show apartment in a neighborhood where you're thinking of moving, and immediately feeling at home. This is the effect created by Carvalho Hosken, a Brazilian company that offers potential buyers a custom-made tour of a show apartment in the project it has begun marketing.
The visitors grant the company's representatives access to their Facebook profile, from which they can obtain relevant information. Before the visit, the apartment is altered to suit the family's tastes: photographs are planted in the rooms, popular shows are played on TV screens, and the music they like wafts through the space. The kitchen is organized similarly to the clients' home kitchen, with matching colors and even similar odors. At the end of the surrealist tour experience, the visitors receive a call with an attractive price offer while they are still inside the apartment. According to the company's findings, 28% of such "tailor-made" tours result in a purchase agreement.
Certain technological tools have become indispensable since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic since it is sometimes impossible or inadvisable to physically visit the sales office or the show apartment.
In the past, potential buyers would look at printed floor plans or watch computer simulations or promotional video. Today, technology takes marketing several steps forward, incorporating virtual reality, virtual tours, and interactive experiences at the developer's visitor center.
So what are the most innovative technological tools used by leading developers and marketing firms today to cope with coronavirus restrictions?
The prototype comes to life
Azorim's visitor center offers an interactive presentation of the Exchange Ramat Gan project, combining a physical prototype of the Diamond Exchange District with a special laser show. Using innovative video mapping technology, images can be projected directly onto the prototype, bringing it to life and offering viewers a glimpse of the future – the vibrant Exchange District as it will look in 2025.
"This is a real audiovisual show," says Gil Gurevitz, VP of Marketing and Sales at Azorim. "It combines an impressive physical prototype of the entire Exchange District, including construction and planning, with a video projected onto the model itself using laser technology, demonstrating the dynamic tempo and ceaseless movement in the entire area, as it will look five years from now."
With the help of a special app, visitors can see the project's towers from any angle, take a tour inside the apartment floor plans, and view the luxury apartments designed by architects Dana Oberson and David Lebenthal and interior designer Michal Han.
The new technology allows customers to visualize the details: the city's vibrant rhythm and movement, the sounds of stores and cafes, the apartment's proximity to the light rail line, and, of course – the cityscape that is visible from the property's windows.
"People interested in this project live and breathe the life of the city, they want to feel its heartbeat and experience it fully," emphasizes Gurevitz. "This new technology provides them with a taste of that experience. The use of a living prototype allows us to present, in the best possible way, the unique experience the project offers – from the bustling urban energy outside to a virtual tour of the luxury apartment from inside."
Life in 3D
Ashdar, part of the Ashtrom Group, offers customers interested in the company's Pardes Ono project in Kiryat Ono a virtual tour of the planned apartment, using technology developed by 3Dcom. The company mapped the project and the area, creating a virtual space in which visitors can walk around as if walking through a physical space – from the lobby to the apartment balcony, from which they can see the real view they can expect to have when the apartment is ready, with sites of interest marked on the horizon.
According to Racheli Brizel, VP of Marketing and Sales at Ashdar, "The ability to see the apartment before it has even been built makes the purchase process more accessible and pleasant. Customers no longer have to imagine the apartment based on complex floor plans; now they can actually see the clouds drifting in the sky above the balcony. The new neighborhood now being constructed in Kiryat Ono attracts young families, second-time home buyers seeking improved accommodations, and investors. We expect it to become a magnet for buyers looking for a high quality of life."
Realizing dreams
Bmby, a Yokneam-based company, has developed unique 3D technology for marketing apartments online. The technology and business magazine CIOReview chose it as one of the 20 promising tech companies in the U.S. real estate sector in 2019.
Using the Dreams app, potential buyers can tour the apartment and see how it will look in reality, facilitating the decision-making process. Dreams is a technology that changes the purchase experience by leveraging VR and AR (augmented reality) technologies that visualize the property and can be downloaded to any screen.
"Instead of visiting the property and leaving it with a promotional booklet, clients can now examine every last centimeter using an app accessible from any smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer. All the information is available at the touch of a button," explains Mark Ze'evi, one of the company's owners.
Custom-made app
The Almog Group invested major resources in developing an app custom-made for its Almog Carmel West project in Haifa. The Dream app (developed by bmby) provides clients with all the information they need about the project without leaving their home.
The app is easy to operate, like a game app, and allows the user to take a tour of the project's surroundings and the area's environmental development, virtually visit each apartment, inspect room size, and even see the view according to the apartment's location in the towers, which are the highest to be constructed in Haifa so far.
The app also provides detailed information on the project, the stock of available apartments, sizes, balconies, air flow, and more. Users can set an online appointment with sales representatives – a particularly useful tool during the pandemic.
The Almog Group app can be easily downloaded from the App Store and is available for the Almog Carmel West project, soon to be expanded to include the group's other projects.
The Almog Carmel West project features 437 apartments in three residential towers, built on a huge, 16-dunam plot. Over the past year, half of the apartments in the first tower were already sold, even before the building's foundations were fully laid.
Raz Schreiber, VP of Marketing at Almog Group: "As part of the group's response to the challenges of the pandemic, and to provide clients with state-of-the-art technological tools, we launched a user-friendly app that changes the way real estate is marketed in Israel today. About 20% of our sales in the past year were assisted by the app. According to our data analysis, the number of users is consistently growing. This is our trial stage for technological innovations, and we're planning to develop additional marketing technology aids."
Transition to remote marketing
"During the pandemic we began to use technological innovations that allow us to maintain contact with clients from afar and efficiently move sales forward," says Sivan Peretz, VP of Marketing and Sales at Bonei HaTichon. "Some of the platforms adapted to our new reality worked wonderfully, and we'll probably continue using them in the future, saving time and resources for both sides."
Orit Gabay, VP of Marketing and Sales at Gabay Group: "In the circumstances of the past year, we had to adopt much more sophisticated means of marketing and communication. The company went through an accelerated digitization process that incudes personal contact through technological means."
Gabay notes that urban renewal processes, for example, which usually require numerous personal meetings with apartment owners, have successfully moved to video calls. The same is true of contact with existing clients. "At first we thought that transferring to remote contact would weaken the personal connection, but that was not the case. People prefer this form of communication over no communication at all. Making information accessible digitally is a process that will continue to develop."
A virtual apartment tour
Virtual tours of apartments with the 3Dtour app have revolutionized digital apartment marketing, particularly during the pandemic. How does it work? When the apartment is ready, a photographer arrives for a photo shoot. He photographs everything in detail – the entrance, the rooms, the balcony, and the view seen from all the windows. The company then uses the photos to create an online tour that can be implanted anywhere – on the developer's website, sent directly to the client by email or via a link on whatsapp, etc.
Recently, Bayit VeGag, which develops and builds urban renewal projects in the Central District, began to use 3Dtour to create tours in a variety of apartments, such as: an apartment currently being marketed in the 38-40 Alumim St. project in Ramat Gan; the last two units in the 8 Shapira St. project in Ramat Gan, where the other apartments were recently handed over to their new owners; and the last 2-bedroom penthouse apartment marketed in the 12 Pinkas project in Ramat Gan, also recently completed.
Irit Maayani, Marketing Manager at Bait VeGag: "Over the last year we've had to think outside the box and find effective ways of providing information to potential buyers. We had to be creative to meet the challenges of the coronavirus crisis."
According to Maayani, the virtual tour platform assists in coping with the restrictions on movement and physical distancing regulations, especially for customers in high-risk populations who are wary of in-person meetings, or those with mobility issues regardless of the pandemic.
"Virtually touring the apartment while sitting in their living room is ideal for customers and for our sales team," says Maayani. "The post-tour discussion is very similar to the one we would have in the physical space, as if the buyers had really visited the apartment itself or the sales office."
Sales pitch sessions via video
SPitch is an innovative startup offering realtors, developers, and sales representatives in general a platform for conducting sales pitches via video. Customers can conduct a pleasant meeting using a smart video platform that uses artificial intelligence to understand the customer, his needs, and his preferences and finds the most suitable apartment in real time.
The system includes first-time online registration, payment services as needed, and an easy-to-use dashboard that does not require technological knowledge. The sales representative can send a price offer or a talk summary and can save the client's details and conclusions from the talk. Companies can use the platform for branding purposes.
The system presents relevant data in real time. For example, if the issue under discussion is accessibility to the new neighborhood, it will present real-time data on the apartment's distance to the light rail station, when the rail line is forecast to begin operations, and a map of the line's stations.
The emphasis is on customer experience and on a simple presentation of visual contents, with no technological requirements from the customer.
Currently, the success of the sales pitch depends mostly on the representative's instincts and understanding of the customer's needs and wishes. Using Spitch, every meeting can be converted into analyzable data. The uniqueness of the platform is not that it enables a Zoom-like video interaction, but rather that it offers an environment that supports all the stages of the sale process.
The Spitch system was presented in its development stages to senior Marketing & Sales managers and VPs in the real estate sector, and was met with enthusiasm and interest.
Nadav Bariah, CEO of Be Nadlan and founder of Spitch: "The system that is just about to be launched combines advanced technology with artificial intelligence and video and multimedia features, turning each detail mentioned during the sales pitch into data and enabling the representative to gain insight into the client's needs in real time, during and after the meeting."
Today, when we meet our doctor via video, study on Zoom, and buy nearly everything possible online, Spitch is eagerly awaited as a highly relevant tool in the real estate sector.
No agent fees
A new real estate initiative is offering an innovative platform that combines technology with a revolutionary sales model. Get Key operates without agent fees; each deal closure carries a set buyer-only fee.
The initiative includes virtual tours of apartments for quick and effective preliminary filtering, as well as 3D photography of apartments by a professional team using advanced equipment.
After about a year developing the concept, building a business plan, and analyzing the market in detail, developers Vered Israel, Ram Hass, and Tal Melenboim founded Get Key. The payment method is based on a basic initial payment for registering. If a deal is reached, the buyer must pay a set price of NIS5,000 (VAT included) when buying an apartment of up to 150 sq.m.
The virtual tour, conducted in the property by a Matterport Israel photographer using state-of-the-art technology, is time-efficient for all sides. For the seller, it provides an effective filter that saves the time and hassle of showing the apartment to numerous potential buyers who may or may not have serious intentions. Buyers save time that would otherwise be spent on traveling to apartments, touring them, and being stuck in traffic. At least the stage of filtering out unsuitable apartments is done from home, at the buyer's leisure, allowing him to pause at every corner and even measure spaces in the apartment without feeling uncomfortable.
Multi-channel communication
The Commbox platform for multi-channel client communication allows the agency to manage all its digital properties using one tool. The system was developed by a subsidiary of Ewave Group. It is intended for easy, intuitive management of all the digital communication channels with clients, providing an optimal customer experience in a variety of media: bots, email, chat, whatsapp, SMS, video, audio, Facebook, Instagram, and more.
Ongoing communication can thus be conducted using every possible channel, obtaining an updated status report for the client on one interface. The Commbox platform is equipped with advanced AI capabilities for understanding the client's needs and with multi-channel bots that can function harmoniously alongside human service and sales representatives.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
"This platform helped us keep in touch with all our clients even under lockdown or distance restrictions," says Asaf Kahaner, CEO of Marketing at Ewave Nadlan. "In this way we could optimally manage all the digital properties at our disposal. Under the three lockdowns we've experienced so far, we couldn't set in-person appointments. The technological platform helped us continue in marketing, sales, and customer service processes."
One of the platform's capabilities is creating digital forms that make in-person meetings for signing paperwork redundant. "There's no doubt that the pandemic accelerated the use of new technologies at a level we've never seen before," concludes Kahaner.
This article might include sponsored and commercial content/marketing information. Israel Hayom is not responsible for its nature or its credibility. The publication of such content or information shall not be considered a recommendation and/or an offer by Israel Hayom to purchase and/or use the services or products mentioned in this article.
